Fever
by TrinityTheSheDevil
Summary: In response to the Children Challenge at Slipstream. The crew are all turned into 8 yr olds.


I posted this in three parts over at Slipstream, and you guys get it all at once. ;) I just finished it, and I hope you all like it. Feedback much appreciated. :)  
  
  
Title: Fever  
Author: TrinityTheSheDevil  
Spoilers: None that I know of.  
Rating: Um...PG...might go up later.  
Archive: Just ask.  
Disclaimer: I don't own them so don't sue me. Heck, I don't even have enough money to buy a printer, what makes you think I'll be able to own them?? :p  
  
Okay.....this story takes place when Tyr had boneblades and Trance was purple............er......Rev's not in this fic tho. *shrugs*  
  
-Chapter One - Wake Up Call  
  
Harper woke up from the most wonderful dream. He was on the beach with a blonde babe, lying out and soaking up the sun. The waves gently crashing onto the shore, and seagulls cawing from overhead. A light breeze floating over their skin, while they drank expensive wine and ate chocolate covered cherries.  
  
And then reality set in and he woke up. Figures.  
  
Climbing out of bed while half asleep, he tripped over his pants leg. Funny.....these weren't his usual baggy pants and he never tripped over them.  
  
He shrugged off the thoughts and walked to the shower. Reaching for his toothbrush........he noticed he couldn't reach the sink! Snapping completely awake he looked down at his small hands. And he was short. Well, shorter than usual.  
  
He ran into his room to grab a stool, and set it in front of the sink. Standing on it he stared at the mirror in shock. He was a kid! Looking over his self he noticed he still had his dataport...but he was a kid! His clothes hung of his tiny frame making him look smaller than he really was.  
  
Eyes bulging, he quickly unbuttoned his pants and took a quick peek.  
  
"NOOOO!!!" He screamed. This could NOT be happening! His voice was also sqeaky again.   
  
"ROMMIE!" He had to be dreaming. He was not a kid again!  
  
"Yes Har-....oh crap." Andromeda's holo appeared in the room.  
  
"Rommie, what's wrong with me? Why am I a kid again???"   
  
"Um, I don't know. Report to Command Deck, I'll get the rest of the crew."  
  
"Okay."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Beka yawned as she walked to the kitchen for some coffee. This was most definitely NOT her morning. She had fell out of bed while waking up.   
  
Rubbing her bruised bottom, she reached up for the coffee pot. And couldn't reach it. Looking around she noticed she was way shorter than usual. Funny...she remembered going to be tall. Beka laughed at herself and figured she must be still dreaming.   
  
Walking to the bathroom, she jumped on the counter and peered into the mirror. And noticed she was a little kid. Pinching herself to see if she was really awake, she screamed.  
  
She ran out of the Maru and toward the Command Deck, as fast as her little legs could carry her.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Dylan stretched as he felt himself waking up. Reaching over to turn off the alarm, he noticed the bed was wet. Jumping up, he wondered how his bed got wet. Then he looked down at his boxers.  
  
He.........wet the bed. He hadn't done that since he was a kid!  
  
Completely red, he walked toward the shower to clean off. Stripping off his clothes....he noticed a vital part of his anatomy was definitely smaller. Way small.  
  
"What the?"   
  
He turned and looked in his mirror. He WAS A KID! Taking a quick five minute shower, he dressed and headed to Command Deck. Something was up.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Tyr got out of bed and scratched his bum. Releasing a manly yawn, he walked toward his weight set. Laying on the floor, he tried to pick up the barbell. Straining and straining until veins were popping out of his forehead, he finally gave up and flopped onto the floor.   
  
Looking down.....he saw his bonespurs were oddly much larger than his arms.  
  
Standing up and looking across the room into the mirror.............he fainted.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Trance opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling. She automatically knew something was different.  
  
Standing up, she realized she was right. Walking over to the mirror above her dresser, she looked in.  
  
She was green again! Must mean she was somewhere between 6-9 years old. She sighed and wondered how this had happened.  
  
Slowly walking to Command Deck, Trance tried to figure out what had happened.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
TBC!  
  
-Chapter Two- Attack on the Kidlets  
  
Harper arrived on the Command Deck and bent over, huffing and puffing. That was a long run for a kid!   
  
"Rommie, where's the rest of the crew?"  
  
"Beka is currently running towards Command Deck, Dylan is just stepping out of the shower, Tyr is passed out in his quarters, and Trance is walking towards Command Deck." Rommie's avatar walked into the room.  
  
"Are they all....you know......kids?" He climbed up onto the pilot chair.  
  
"Yes." The avatar nodded.  
  
"Huh. I wonder what's causing this." Little Harper chewed on his thumb. A habit he had supposedly stopped when he was 9.  
  
"I don't know Harper. My sensors didn't indicate anything suspicious last night.   
  
"Maybe it's some kind of secret weapon? I mean, anyone can take over the Andromeda when it's commanded by kids. And do you know how old we are?"  
  
"To your first question, no, I don't think it was a weapon. I would have detected something. And to your second question, my scans reveal you are all at the age of 8. Except only your bodies are 8. You still have your dataport, and Tyr, for some reason, still has his bonespurs."  
  
"He does? Wait, didn't you say he was passed out?" Harper jumped up.  
  
"Yes."   
  
"Why?" He paced around the room.  
  
"Seeing himself as a child was too much for him."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I don't think his mind could handle it."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because his mind can only take so much Harper. It came as a really big shock for him."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Rommie finally snapped. An android could only take so much. AI's were not meant to baby-sit. They were meant to kill. 'Give me a hundred magog any day.' She thought.  
  
"HARPER! Shut up!"  
  
Harper jumped and realized what he was doing.  
  
"Oh, sorry babe. I'm gonna go see if I can get Tyr up. Umm....you just get the rest of the crew here."  
  
Harper walked out into the hall towards Tyr's room.   
  
'He passed out! I can't believe it! And they say Neitzschean minds are so superior. Hah! Hmm...Tyr as an 8 year old. Maybe he'll finally be my height!"   
  
Harper finally got to Tyr's door, and opened it. He spotted the small Neitzschean sprawled on the floor in front of a mirror. He also had an afro.  
  
'An AFRO! I cannot believe this!' Harper snickered.  
  
"Ohhh, Tyyyrrrrr. Wakey wakey!" Harper walked to the bathroom to get a cup of cold water, and poured it on the sleeping boy.  
  
*COUGH* *SPUTTER*   
  
"What the hell?!" Tyr jumped up and grabbed Harper by the arm, twisting and flipping him on the floor.  
  
"OW! Hey, watch it man!" Harper yelped.  
  
"What happened? Why are we children?"   
  
"Let me up and I'll tell you."  
  
"Tell me and I'll let you up."  
  
"No, let me up first!"  
  
"TELL ME FIRST!"  
  
"NO! LEMME UP!"  
  
Andromeda's holo popped into the room and saw the boys on the floor.  
  
"Tyr, Harper, both of you get up and report to Command. NOW!" She fizzled out.  
  
"If she hadn't interrupted you woulda got it!" Tyr snarled.  
  
"Yeah, bring it on afro boy!"  
  
A small bolt of electricity snapped both of the boys in the butt.  
  
"HEY! That hurt Rommie!" Harper rubbed his injured bum.  
  
"Yes, and I gave you a direct order. Follow it!" The voice came from the walls.  
  
"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming. Keep your pants on."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Harper and Tyr arrived at Command Deck to see the rest of the crew.  
  
Looking over, Harper noticed a little green girl with a long spikey tail and orange hair.  
  
"TRANCE?!"   
  
"Yes, Harper?"  
  
"Um...er.....you uhh..."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Ok." Harper decided to just forget it. Trance was Trance. The all mysterious pixie. Or...green bean. Whatever.   
  
"Okay, we need to find out how we became kids again."  
  
"Rommie said it wasn't a weapon. Drug maybe?" Harper thought aloud.  
  
"I also don't detect anything foreign in your systems."  
  
"Well what DO you detect?!" Beka yelled.  
  
"You are all in 8 year old bodies."  
  
"DUH!" The crew yelled at once. Andromeda raised her eyebrows and fizzled out.  
  
The ship suddenly lurched sideways, sending all of the munchkins flying into the wall.  
  
*SPLAT*  
  
*OOF*  
  
*YELP*  
  
*OUCH*  
  
*SMACK*  
  
Rommie looked as they all landed in a heap.  
  
"OWOWOWOWOW! I'm sitting on something painfull!" Rommie heard Harper's voice from beneath the pile.  
  
"That's my tail you dork!" Trance shouted.  
  
"Someone's sitting on my head!" Tyr's muffled voice was heard.  
  
"That'd be me." Dylan said.  
  
"WELL GET OFF!"  
  
"I can't, Beka's sitting on me."  
  
Andromeda finally pitied the young crew, and went to untangle them. Picking Tyr up, she noticed the outline of butt cheeks in his afro. Desperately trying not to laugh, she picked up everyone else.  
  
"We are under attack." Andromeda stated.  
  
"Ya think?" Harper said, rubbing his sore bottom.   
  
"Who is attacking us?" Beka asked.  
  
"It's......magog ships."  
  
The crew jumped as they heard the ships attaching themselves to the hull.  
  
"Intruder alert. Intruder alert."  
  
"Andromeda, activate internal defense system!" Dylan shouted.  
  
Harper fell on the floor, shivering.   
  
"I can't go through this again. I just can't."   
  
Tyr walked over to the smaller boy and laid a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Harper, we survived this once. We will again." He said.   
  
Harper looked up, and at the afro.   
  
"Yeah, we will butt cheeck boy. We will." Harper smiled.  
  
"Why you little.." Tyr playfully threatened.  
  
"The magog are getting into Command." Rommie said.  
  
Small Dylan looked around. "Everybody got a weapon?"   
  
"Yeah." The crew answered, and faced the door. Faced doom. Faced one of their greatest fears.  
  
The door was finally pushed open, and magog started pouring in by the hundreds...........  
  
TBC  
  
  
  
-Chapter Three - Final Relief (this might be PG 13, I'm pretty sure it is)  
  
Harper gripped the gauss gun tighter as he watched the magog pour in. Firing off several shots, he had just enough time to scream a warning before Beka was over whelmed by magog. Dylan shot his way over to her, but it was already too late.   
  
Not looking behind him, Dylan was cut down by a particular nasty magog. Harper stood in shock as his crewmates were slaughtered one by one.  
  
"HARPER! Watch out!" Tyr jumped in front of little Harper, and took the blow of claws into his chest. A blow that would have surely killed Harper.  
  
"TYYRRR!" Harper snapped out of his shocked state and shot the magog dead center between his eyes.   
  
Reaching down, he grabbed his friend and pulled him to a corner. Since Tyr was only an inch or two taller than he, it was pretty easy.  
  
"Tyr, can you hear me?!" Harper cried.  
  
"Boy." Tyr rasped. "Get out of here."  
  
"NO! I won't leave you! I can't." A sob escaped from the young engineer's throat. Forcing back the tears, he held on to his friend.   
  
"TRANCE! Where are you?!" He shouted.  
  
"I'm right here, Har-"   
  
Harper screamed as he saw his best friend killed before his eyes. Looking down, he realized Tyr was dead also. He was all alone again. So very alone.   
  
"ROMMIE! Are you still here??" He jumped up.  
  
"My *static* body is *static* alive." The holo crackled in and out.   
  
"WHERE?!"   
  
"-ck 14."   
  
Deck 14. That wasn't too far. Maybe he could get to her. Then he'd at least have a fighting chance.  
  
Blasting his way out of the door, he finally made it to the hall. Automatically his small feet started carrying him as fast as they could.  
  
*SCREEECH*  
  
Harper turned around just in time to see a sharp claw flying straight towards his head. This was it. He was dead. He smiled......there was no reason to live now anyway. He could almost hear Trance's name calling him from the other side.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Harper! Harper!!!" Groggily he wondered if this was the other side. It had to be. That magog surely killed him!  
  
"Harper, come on. Wake up for me!" He heard Trance again.  
  
"Yeah, come on shorty, you gotta get up." Beka's voice entered the conversation.  
  
He wondered how his eyelids felt a few tons each. Finally managing them open, he realized he was on Med Deck.  
  
"Wha, what happened? Where's the magog?! Oh my god, Beka, Trance, Tyr, Dylan.....they're all dead."  
  
"What're you talking about? We're right here Harper. You've had a fever for the past few days, and you've been in and out of conscience the whole time. You sounded like you had some pretty bad nightmares there." Beka handed Harper some water, which he drank down greedily.  
  
"Who exactly is 'butt cheeck boy'?" Tyr asked from the corner of the room.  
  
"Uhh........I dunno. I don't remember." Harper lied.   
  
"Ah. Well, nice to see you're going to live. I'll be in my quarters if anyone needs me."  
  
Harper couldn't believe it was all a dream. He was so relieved and happy. Nobody was gone, his family had been restored.  
  
"Andromeda, what's Dylan doing? I want to tell him Harper is awake." Beka smiled.  
  
"He's currently changing the sheets on his bed."   
  
"Hmm...wonder why he's doin that. Oh well. Tell him about Harper."  
  
Harper snickered. He was also glad they weren't all kids either. He'd much rather have Tyr being way taller than him. For some reason....the big neitzschean cared enough about him to save his life.   
  
And he also wondered about Trance. Maybe in the future she'd change another color. He didn't know. One day, he'd know her giant secret. But he'd just have to wait until that day.  
  
He still couldn't believe Dylan wet the bed though. Laughing slightly to himself, he fell back asleep, under the watchful eyes of his friends....family.  
  
The End. 


End file.
